Morning Read, Upstate: The Coup is Over! Back to Normal Dysfunction!

The stalemate in the State Senate ended when renegade Democrat Pedro Espada Jr. returned to his party’s conference.
Espada will be the majority leader. Senator Malcolm Smith will be the chamber’s president pro tem and Senator John Sampson will be the Democratic conference leader. It’s unclear what duties will fall under the purview of each.
This gives Espada a $41,000 stipend as well as the ability to make lots of patronage hires. It’s unclear how long this will last, given persisting factions in the Democratic conference.
The News called it “dirty, dastardly, disgusting.”
The Post is less concerned with the means, and